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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Investigation Details

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been very traumatic and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the child. But, he said, after learning Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left terrified and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.